China Builds Aids Control Pilot Regions
People's Daily 08 March 2003

China's Ministry of Health launched a national project to set up dozens of pilot regions thatwill provide comprehensive medical services for HIV carriers and Aids patients on Friday.

A total of 51 counties from 11 provinces or regions have been entrusted by the ministry to act as experimental areas in the search for effective ways to prevent and control HIV and Aids overthe next three years, China Daily reported Saturday.

There have been about 200,000 Aids patients in China since 1985but half of them have died. The majority of the victims lack proper medical treatment and care due to a lack of both money and an effective prevention and control system.

The number of pilot counties is expected to be increased from 51 to 100 by the end of this year. In these counties, a service network will be established in towns and urban communities to provide medical treatment and social care.

The pilot counties have been selected for the project because they have a large proportion of high-risk people who have been infected through illegal blood transfusions in rural areas and by drug abuse and prostitution in the cities.

More than 90 percent of the HIV and Aids sufferers in the pilotregions are expected to have basic but standard medical treatment and other social and mental support at the end of three years, thepaper quoted Sun Jiangping, a state Aids control